The Renault Zoe Z.E. is a relatively new electric car, having been introduced to the Australian/NZ market in 2017. With its appeal driving range of approximately 300 kilometres, the Zoe is designed for urban and city driving. It is powered by 66-kilowatt AC synchronous motor functioning, on energy stored in lithium-ion battery packs.

Renault Zoe Z.E 40intRenault Zoe Z.E

The Zoe is unique for its small, but still very practical features, with hot hatch performance, five-doors, five-passenger body shell and DC Fast charging, it is set up to be the only car in the household. It slots itself into the very popular small hatch segment and is a highly practical car. Thanks to the Zoe, electric cars are about to go mainstream!

Figures

Although the Zoe has been pumping out sales overseas, it is currently only available to government and fleet managers to purchase. If you live in NSW they’re listed on the Renault website at $49,490 for the Zoe Life model and $50,990 for the Zoe Intense (Life+) model. If your interested, you can register your interest here:https://www.renault.com.au/vehicles/future-vehicles/electric-vehicles/register

Nissan Addresses Inaccurate Battery Range and State of Charge Reporting

In case you missed this, last month Nissan released a statement (and a fix) for the 2016 and 2017 30kwh LEAFs that were supposedly experiencing premature battery degradation. Essentially these cars were, on the face of it, losing range and capacity at an accelerated rate.

Nissan Battery

Owners of these EVs were reporting that their cars were losing as much as 25 percent of their car’s range and battery capacity in as little as 15,000 miles. True, Nissan’s 96-month/100,000-mile lithium-ion battery capacity coverage replaced the suspect batteries but that apparently wasn’t a permanent fix.

It transpires that the BMS system provided inaccurate calculations used to determine the state of charge (SOC) and ultimately the range available from the battery.

Now to be clear, measuring the battery capacity of Lithium cells can be difficult as capacity is not absolute and highly dependent on the use. In short, the lower the current drain the more capacity they will yield. That said, other manufacturers manage this perfectly fine it’s just that Nissan obviously made a mistake this time around. Nissan has historically been broadly criticised for the method it uses to manage the health and heat of the Leaf lithium-ion batteries.

Note

It’s possible not all dealers may not be up-to-date on this campaign. Please refer to Customer Service Campaign ID:PC630.

Nissan Customer Service Campaign Statement

On June 6, 2018, Nissan began conducting a customer service campaign in North America to reprogram the lithium-ion battery controller in 2016 and 2017 model-year LEAF vehicles equipped with a 30-kWh battery, to correct the calculation used for the battery capacity level gauge and distance remaining of the vehicle.

The displayed vehicle range and battery capacity level gauge on these vehicles are displaying range and capacity that is lower than the actual amount. Reprogramming the controller will result in an accurate display of the LEAFs battery capacity and trip range.

This service campaign is open to all 2016 and 2017 LEAFs regardless of mileage or if they have had their battery previously replaced. Owners should contact their local dealer to schedule the update. After the reprogramming, the balance of the original lithium-ion battery and battery capacity warranty will remain in effect for any customers who experience warrantable battery degradation.

The excitement is never ending with new EVs and PHEVs on the horizon in Australia and NZ. With more electric vehicles becoming available than ever in Australia and NZ, 2018 looks like it is set to be the year for EVs.

But we also have the new BMW i3s, Hyundai IONIQ and the Jaguar I-Pace expanding Australia’s range of EVs for 2018 buyers. We expect this expansion to continue to grow over the next few years which is more positive than ever. The next generation is here!